Frederick Hengl’s death in holding cell declared "natural"

Husband who reportedly cooked wife was in poor health

Frederick Joseph Hengl, 69, accused of killing his wife and cooking parts of her on the stovetop in their Oceanside home, died in a “natural” manner, according to the county medical examiner.

Hengl was found deceased in his bed in a “medical holding cell” located in San Diego’s downtown jail on September 27, 2013, according to an “external examination report.” The report was released late on December 31.

Hengl had been in custody since November 16, 2012, after his neighbors near 419 North Ditmar Street complained to authorities of a terrible smell. When police entered the home, they found parts of Anna-Marie Hengl in three pans in the kitchen and her head was in the freezer, according to statements made in court.

“Throughout his incarceration, he remained in the infirmary where his condition steadily declined,” the report stated. Three months ago, at 9:40 p.m., Hengl was bathed and got a “new bag of fluids” and “he requested another vanilla supplement shake, which he was given.” Less than an hour later, at 10:25 p.m., “nursing staff discovered that he was lying in his hospital bed, pulseless and apneic.”

The report declared Hengl’s cause of death to be metastatic prostate cancer, with arteriosclerotic disease a contributor, and the manner of death to be natural. There was no evidence of trauma, and toxicological tests were not performed.

Hengl was 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 116 pounds at the time of his death. The report noted that he had a pacemaker, and “he had poor dentition…. The teeth are irregularly absent and in poor condition.”